VSCode (Powershell) starts with two terminals open: Powershell Integrated and "pwsh"

[github-account1111]

Prerequisites

• I have written a descriptive issue title.
• I have searched all issues to ensure it has not already been reported.
• I have read the troubleshooting guide.
• I am sure this issue is with the extension itself and does not reproduce in a standalone PowerShell instance.
• I have verified that I am using the latest version of Visual Studio Code and the PowerShell extension.
• If this is a security issue, I have read the security issue reporting guidance.

Summary

Same exact issue as microsoft/vscode#136609 except that one was seemingly ignored and closed.

PowerShell Version

PS> $PSVersionTable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.3.0-preview.3
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.3.0-preview.3
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.22000
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Visual Studio Code Version

PS> code --version
1.66.2
dfd34e8260c270da74b5c2d86d61aee4b6d56977
x64

Extension Version

PS> code --list-extensions --show-versions | Select-String powershell

ms-vscode.powershell@2021.12.0

Steps to Reproduce

Open a .ps1 file.

Visuals

No response

Logs

No response

[andyleejordan]

Hi there,

The PowerShell extension opens the "PSIC" (PowerShell Integrated Console) on activation as it's hosting the LSP server.

VS Code opens a regular pwsh terminal.

You can configure both of these options, the extension's with:

"powershell.integratedConsole.showOnStartup": false

(Note that if you do this, you'll have to manually run "PowerShell: Show Integrated Console" to get it open later, see #3918.)

And VS Code's terminal documentation is here.

[github-account1111]

Does hosting the LSP server require opening an extra Powershell session?

Also worth noting that this was not happening before I installed Powershell 7.

[andyleejordan]

Does hosting the LSP server require opening an extra Powershell session?

It requires the PSIC session, yes. But as shown, you can hide that if you wish.

Also worth noting that this was not happening before I installed Powershell 7.

I don't think that VS Code will open a pwsh terminal on startup unless you install pwsh (which is PowerShell 7).

[github-account1111]

"Extra" was the keyword in my question.
Can't it switch to 7 for PSIC, given that it's a superset of 5.1, instead of spawning an extra session?

[andyleejordan]

No, as I stated, the extension only starts PSIC. It is not an "extra" is is the one and only that the extension spawns and hides control over. You may hide it at startup if you wish.

You can set VS Code to do whatever you wish with your other terminals. You seem to not want it to start a pwsh terminal on startup, go configure that. I linked you to the documentation earlier. I can't answer why VS Code doesn't start a powershell by default; I'm not a VS Code maintainer.

Thanks for using the extension!

[github-account1111]

@andschwa You seem to have misunderstood my question.
I'm asking why the extension doesn't opt to use 7 for PSIC instead of 5.1.
It can obviously see that 7 is present because it opens it along with 5.1.

You seem to not want it to start a pwsh terminal on startup, go configure that.

No.
I want it to start pwsh only (i.e. 7).
I don't want it to start 5.1 (whether it be hidden or not).

[andyleejordan]

@andschwa You seem to have misunderstood my question.
I'm asking why the extension doesn't opt to use 7 for PSIC instead of 5.1.
It can obviously see that 7 is present because it opens it along with 5.1.

The extension does use PowerShell 7 if available. You can actually choose which installed copy of PowerShell you want to use!

[github-account1111]

The extension does use PowerShell 7 if available

But that's obviously not the case.
Here 7 is available, yet it still uses 5.1.
That is literally the point of this entire issue.
It should do it, but it doesn't do it.